Sometimes situations can overwhelm us and even if we don’t want to keep thinking about it, we do. Our thoughts keeps racing and racing, until we have thought of every bad scenario possible. There does not seem to be any escape. Can we get out of this vicious cycle?
According to the expert panel at Psychology Today repressing anxious thoughts won’t work; they will just come back, sometimes with more intensity. But there are more effective techniques you can borrow from mindfulness-based stress reduction and cognitive-behavioural therapies:
1. Attempt cognitive distancing
We have been hearing about social distancing strategies, why not try cognitive distancing? Try to see your anxious thoughts as guesses, not as facts. Your mind is trying to protect you by predicting what could happen—but just because something could happen doesn’t mean it will. Look at objective evidence: How likely is it that the negative outcome will actually happen? Is there anything good that might happen instead?
2. Practice mindfulness
Practice observing your thoughts, rather than reacting automatically to them. Think of your thoughts as clouds floating by. Which draw you in and which make you want to run away? Is there a way you can untangle yourself and just observe your thoughts, rather than reacting?
3. Get up and get going
Worrying over an issue without creating a solution will not help you solve the problem. It may, in fact, make you less likely to act by feeding your anxiety. When your mind is stuck in a loop, you can interrupt it by getting up and moving around or doing a different task or activity. When you sit back down, you should have a different perspective.
